Throughout his freelance career, Robert has kept his business successfully afloat by building upon a solid foundation. In this live video webinar via Google Hangout, Robert will cover the 11 key tips photographers should know to run their business smoothly and grow it over time.

Whether you’re considering going full-time freelance, or have been doing it for years – Robert will offer up essential tips and lessons learned in an in-depth dialogue with host Allen Murabayshi about what it’s really like to be a photographer and small business owner.

Insurance can be a complicated beast, but knowing how to cover yourself and your equipment is a must-do for your business. In this guide, we review the types of insurance you should consider as a working photographer, plus offer up tips from insurance experts and additional resources to help you make the smartest decisions for your business.

In our latest guide, "The Photographer’s Guide to Twitter," we’ve partnered up with the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) to give you tips to get your name out there, engage with potential customers, and advance your photo career.

In this guide, you’ll also learn:

10 ways to grow a Twitter following and increase engagement - including sharing behind-the-scenes photos and tweeting about what’s trending

Top Twitter features for businesses that will help you market your work better

Legal considerations before using Twitter, plus best practices to help keep your work safe

Tips to measure your success and determine if your efforts are working

Plus more!

Also get a list of Twitter FAQs to address specific questions you might have, plus a glossary to stay on top of commonly used Twitter jargon.

Sharing great blogs, stories, and videos from outside sources that your audience will enjoy.

Asking interesting questions to inspire conversation on your page.

Offering giveaways and coupons to get people fired up about your products and services.

We also share some great examples of pages from photographers who have successfully used Facebook to build and grow their audience - and their client base - using simple, low cost strategies from posting regularly to showcasing images in a compelling way.

In our newest guide, Pricing Your Work: Photojournalism, discover tips to connect with potential news clients and publications, learn what fees and terms you can expect, plus get negotiating pointers and resources to help get your foot in the door and build your career in this field.

Also learn answers to questions like:

What are the four types of clients photojournalists typically work for?

How do you turn news media prospects into paying clients?

What are examples of fees, terms, and contracts you’ll likely encounter?

To what extent are rates and terms negotiable?

What type of insurance do you need?

Plus more!

Pricing Your Work: Photojournalism is the third in a series of guides with Wonderful Machine's CEO Bill Cramer and is packed with tips to help you price your photography and cut your best deal.

Learn from one of the world’s foremost authorities on Digital Asset Management, Peter Krogh.

In this webinar, Peter Krogh will answer the photographer's plea “Just tell me what to do!” when it comes to storing, organizing, and optimizing your workflow within Adobe Lightroom.

Peter will focus on how to maximize your use of Lightroom as an image cataloging tool. This is for those looking to tame their out-of-control, unorganized file system and truly understand Lightroom’s organization power.

In this webinar you’ll learn:

How to approach image file storage in a simple and safe way

The advantages of the DNG file format

What to do when you’ve outgrown your photo library

How to organize your photos with metadata tags, apply them to entire shoots, and when to use custom tags

Finding images quickly using filters

How to use Lightroom Projects to create photobooks, slideshows, web galleries, videos and more

About the publishing service within Lightroom

Peter will also be giving away free copies of his book, Digital Asset Management for Photographers, to 10 lucky attendees!

No matter your specialty, as a photographer looking to get work you need to be able to answer the two basic questions above. In this webinar Allen will not only guide you through how to answer both questions but will show you how the answers will help you build a better online presence and attract clients to your work.

As the battle for attention rages on in all corners of the web, strategies to gain recognition, get clients, and stay top of mind are constantly changing. Here, Allen offers up tips from the presentations he’s given at WPPI, PPE, The Palm Springs Photo Festival and numerous other conferences. He’ll focus on how to find the best recipe for using the web to attract and engage the right audience and turn them into loyal clients.

In this webinar you’ll learn about:

The “smell test” (hint: it’s what your online brand is emitting)

The "search engine lottery" do's and don'ts

The “stop doing list” (or, how to make smart decisions with your time)

Sharing great blogs, stories, and videos from outside sources that your audience will enjoy.

Asking interesting questions to inspire conversation on your page.

Offering giveaways and coupons to get people fired up about your products and services.

We also share some great examples of pages from photographers who have successfully used Facebook to build and grow their audience - and their client base - using simple, low cost strategies from posting regularly to showcasing images in a compelling way.

Action photographer David Bergman has made a name for himself for everything from his iconic shots of Bon Jovi on tour to his GigaPan image of President Obama’s first inauguration. He’s shot for Sports Illustrated, MLB.com, CBS, The Travel Channel, The Washington Post, The Miami Herald, numerous musicians and record labels, and has even started a series of workshops.

But, this self-professed “band geek” didn’t set out to be a photographer at the beginning. In this webinar on Tuesday, Nov. 19th at 4pm EST, learn directly from David as he tells his story about making the move from music production major to full-time staff photographer to freelancer. During this webinar you'll learn from David's own experience:

What the transition from going to full-time to freelance can be like

How to leverage professional relationships to get more work

Why learning new techniques keeps your work relevant

What it’s really like to hang around and photograph a stadium packed show with Bon Jovi

With literally hundreds of photo contests out there to choose from, how do you pick the right one to enter? And, how do you improve your chances of winning? In our latest guide, The Photographer’s Guide to Photo Contests, we review more than 25 of the most popular photo competitions worldwide, including insights on which are worth your while, and which to avoid.

Discover the pros and cons of each competition, including the:

Red Bull Illume Image Quest

World Press Photo Contest

Wildlife Photographer of the Year

International Photography Awards

Communication Arts Photography Competition

Aperture Portfolio Prize

Plus many more!

We award each a grade, A-F, based on factors like entry fee, prizes and promised exposure, plus provide feedback from past winners. Use this guide as a resource to pick and choose contests that are best for you and your goals as a photographer.

In this webinar Jared Bauman, Founder and President of ShootDotEdit, will discuss workflow best practices and how achieving high levels of efficiency after the shoot can be your key to not only keeping clients returning but gaining new ones as well.

He'll walk you through creating a post-shoot process that works for you, identifying the steps that are your obstacles to being more productive, and -- importantly -- how outsourcing parts of your work to professionals can actually help you grow your business.

Join us and learn from Jared:

How to tailor your workflow so you can put more focus on what you truly love to do

How to identify pain points, and what bottlenecks you encounter from shoot to delivery

Outsourcing portions of your workflow: what ShootDotEdit provides for photographers

Eric Cheng spent over 10 years mastering underwater photography before deciding to try his hand at aerial videography. Now he’s already turning the industry on its head with a new innovation that allows photographers to capture above-ground footage without the massive expense of a helicopter.

With a background in computer science, and having been the previous Director of Photography at Lytro, Eric has a deep investment in the progression of both photography and technology. For his aerial work Eric experimented with an ordinary radio controlled drone and a simple GoPro Hero. The electronic gimbal he created with a friend is what keeps every shot flawless, unaffected by the wind, and absolutely stunning.

In this webinar we’ll talk to Eric about this incredible alternative to the traditional aerial photography methods, his work both underwater and above ground, and what gear is involved.

In the spirit of PhotoShelter’s Luminance 2012 which brought together top creatives, technologists and innovators to explore the intersection of business, technology, culture, and photography, the six Photoville Luminance seminars will showcase topics ranging from iPhoneography to a behind-the-scenes look at shooting for Rolling Stone to guerilla marketing for photographers. Panelists include:

Renowned conflict and editorial photographer, Ben Lowy

Rolling Stone Photo Editor, Deborah Dragon

Award-winning editorial photographer, Peter Yang

Secretary of the World Press Photo Competition, Stephen Mayes

International Photo Editor at TIME, Patrick Witty

Publisher of aCurator.com, Julie Grahame

Speakers with different backgrounds and viewpoints will present on the same panels to provide the audience with a full spectrum of ideas and insights on the business of photography. Interested attendees can register for panels here.

PhotoShelter will also host a Peer Review Happy Hour on Friday, September 27th, from 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm ET at the Photoville Beer Garden. Photographers are encouraged to bring their portfolio, grab a beer, and provide feedback in this informal portfolio review. The first drink is on PhotoShelter and it’s free to attend, but photographers need to register here.

As a wedding photographer, you’re likely fun, bubbly and creative – but are you also exceedingly organized? Do you start preparing for a wedding months ahead of the actual date?

If you answered “no” or even “sometimes” to either of these questions, then you need Boston-based wedding photographer Mike Duval’s pre-event checklist in your back pocket. Mike has been shooting weddings with his wife (true story!) for the last eight years, and has found himself in enough sticky situations to know that you can never plan too much for the big day.

In this live webinar on Tuesday, September 17th at 4pm ET, Mike will take us through his pre-wedding prep list, starting from the time of booking up to the wedding day. He’ll cover:

Venue scouting: what to look for when researching online and during the site visit

Pre-wedding questionnaire: what to ask the couple before and on the big day

Gear checklist: must-have equipment for shooting weddings

Customer service: little things that can help put you and your clients at ease

Join us for this webinar, co-hosted by PhotoShelter and LensProToGo, and never be underprepared for a wedding again.

Whether you’re shooting in an unfamiliar location or conflict area, photographers traveling abroad need to smart, vigilant, and prepared for dangerous situations. Many photographers might not receive formal training before going abroad, so it’s more important than ever to do your own research and determine what you need to stay safe. And after visiting more than 100 countries between them, photojournalists Ami Vitale and Elizabeth Dalziel have learned some vital lessons on how to protect themselves in a number of different precarious situations.

In this live webinar on Tuesday, September 10th at 4pm ET, Ami and Elizabeth will draw on their many years of experience to share their recommendations for those who find themselves working in difficult environments. They’ll discuss:

The importance of finding a trustworthy guide

The actual cost of staying safe and buying protection

The value of networking with other photographers

Lessons learned from personal experience in mobs, unstable areas, and war zones

Join us on Tuesday, September 10th at 4pm ET for this very special webinar with Ami Vitale and Elizabeth Dalziel!